Network News

STAFF CONTRIBUTORS

Click on the faces for bios

Michael Fletcher writes about the national economy for the Post, where he has been a reporter since 1995. Previously, he was a White House correspondent and he also has covered national education policy, race relations and the District government. Prior to coming to The Post, he spent 13 years as a reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Fletcher is co-author of "Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas," published by Doubleday in 2007. Born and raised in New York City, Fletcher is a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and Boston University.

Ariana Eunjung Cha writes about the economy for the Post and is the Web editor for its national economy and business section. She has served as the paper's bureau chief in Beijing, Shanghai and San Francisco and as a correspondent in Baghdad.

Brady Dennis writes about economic policy and financial regulation. Before coming to The Post in September 2008, he was a staff writer at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida. At the Post, he was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and a Gerald Loeb Award for a three-part series he and a colleague wrote about the rise and fall of American International Group.

Zachary Goldfarb has covered the U.S. financial crisis for The Post for more than three years. Originally from Manhattan, he is a graduate of the Princeton University and now lives in Washington, D.C. He enjoys vegetarian cooking, is getting started as a cyclist and spends too much time obsessing over gadgets.

Jia Lynn Yang is a staff writer at The Washington Post who covers policy that affects corporate America. She's interested in taxes, regulation and all the ways that business and Washington try to influence and make sense of one another. Before joining The Post, Jia Lynn was a Washington correspondent for Fortune magazine.

Neil Irwin writes about the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve. He has been at the Post since 2000 and has an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism. His interests include bond market data, cured pork products, and pinot noir.

Lori Montgomery writes about national economic policy emanating from the White House and Capitol Hill. A former foreign correspondent who traveled Europe pre-euro, she also covered domestic politics in such disparate locales as Dallas and Detroit. She has three kids, one dog and no time for your so-called "interests."

Ylan Q. Mui covers the consumer economy and has been a member of the Financial staff since 2005 and a staff writer since 2002. She is also an adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Maryland. Ylan graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans, where she was born and raised.

Howard Schneider covers international economics and trade for the Post. He has served in a variety of roles at the paper, three tours abroad in Israel, Egypt and Canada, and as economics editor. He is a native of Maryland's Eastern Shore, and proudly includes a chief oyster inspector among his ancestors.

Mike Shepard is the Night Editor for Economy and Business News. A graduate of Georgetown University, Mike has worked at the Post for 22 years in a variety of editing assignments. He spent 1997 teaching journalism in Brazil on a Fulbright scholarship and is a fluent speaker of Portuguese.

Political Economy explores how political forces in Washington and elsewhere in the world shape the economy and how corporate agendas influence political institutions and politicians. The blog offers new perspectives on the day's top economic and business stories with exclusive interviews with government officials and lawmakers, commentary from influential economists and analysis from Post reporters. Ariana Eunjung Cha is the blog's lead writer and Mike Shepard is the author of the daily economic agenda.

"Now that we're all used to pre-nups, it's time to start thinking about divorce insurance: Ever had that sinking feeling that the person your friend is marrying is perfectly awful? Of course not, because you love everyone. But should it happen, you now can give the perfect wedding present: divorce insurance."

Posted at 8:33 AM ET, 11/23/2010

Financial Stability Oversight Council getting abundant input, from all sides

By
Brady Dennis

From today's print edition:

The new council of regulators empowered by Congress to head off potential risks to the financial system has met only once, but already its work is garnering plenty of attention.

If the Financial Stability Oversight Council's second meeting Tuesday produces as much public input as it did after its initial gathering last month, the panel might need to hire more staff.

The council, led by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and composed of top regulators from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other agencies, sought public comment last month on two of the most contentious questions to emerge from the debate over new financial rules: How should regulators go about designating non-bank firms that are "systemically significant," thus subjecting them to potentially more stringent oversight? And how should regulators implement the Volcker Rule, which seeks to prohibit firms from trading on their own accounts, a practice known as proprietary trading?

In recent weeks, those questions generated more than 1,500 public comments, far outpacing comments on proposed rules by other agencies, according to www.regulations.gov, a government Web site that tracks federal rule-making.

The responses poured in from industry executives, consumer advocates and ordinary citizens, most either with a stake in the outcome of the new regulations or a strong opinion about the shape they should take.

The comments ranged from extensive essays from financial firms about the intricacies of individual provisions and why their firms should not be deemed systemically important, to one-paragraph letters urging agency leaders to institute tough new regulations to reign in Wall Street.

"After what we have been through the last few years, we should not start the bank regulatory process with exceptions and special deals," Nick Morris wrote.

"Please protect the people of the U.S. and keep our financial markets strong. We depend on you to act our behalf," Tamara Melton-Villali wrote.

As that debate continues to unfold in coming months, the oversight council will push forward with new business Tuesday, holding a private session in the morning before opening the proceeding to the public at noon.

Treasury officials said several items are on the agenda. The group will provide an update on what various agencies are doing to investigate widespread paperwork problems that have called into question millions of foreclosures across the country, as well as how regulators are coordinating with the Department of Justice, state attorneys general and other officials who are scrutinizing the mess.

In addition, the council will release minutes from the private portion of its October meeting, hash out details about the group's structure and responsibilities going forward, and invite comments on how best to determine which financial market utilities - companies such as exchanges and clearinghouses that operate as the plumbing of the financial markets - should be deemed systemically significant.

The new oversight council grew out of a realization in the wake of the financial crisis that no single regulatory entity was responsible for identifying and curbing systemic risks.

That allowed insurance giant American International Group, for example, to grow so large and interconnected with other firms that its downfall in late 2008 threatened to bring down the entire financial system.

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.